Pembroke burglary takes donations meant for brain cancer patient

PEMBROKE - Donations meant to help a cancer patient who works at the Serendipity Day Spa were among the items stolen in an overnight burglary there, owner Holly Dufresne Rodrigues said Saturday.

Rodrigues said employees found the back door ajar and several items missing, including cash, computers and other equipment. Also missing was a safe containing donations for employee Jaime Taylor-Harper, who is in a Boston hospital with Stage 4 brain cancer, Rodrigues said.

."The spa belongings are all covered by insurance," she said. "But the things in the safe weren't. And (the donations) just mean so much more to me beyond any of things that can be replaced."

Taylor-Harper was married shortly before being diagnosed and recently celebrated her two-year wedding anniversary, Rodrigues said. She said she hasn't told Taylor-Harper about the theft "because she has enough going on already."..In addition to cash, some of items included Red Sox tickets and gift certificates donated by spa clients and many area businesses, she said.

"It was just an incredible outpouring of community support," she said. The theft "was just so upsetting."..The spa is asking that anyone who made a donation contact the business at 229-0400 so employees can compile a list...